Thursday, June 26, 2014

It seems like in the last month, every single thing in my life has changed. I plan to blog about each of these things in more detail later, but for now, let me share the really big one:

Austin and Riley are employed!!!

My Froyo gir!

The third shift grocery clerk!

They both got these jobs all on their own, and the stories about how it came about really deserve to be told. Soon! I promise!

Riley also left her old dance studio for a pre-professional dance company. Reece will remain at the old studio. But the new studio is 3 times as far away, at least. And it's 5 nights a week. So basically I am spending my time driving her everywhere she needs to be! :)

Austin's working third shift which means he sleeps most of the day. And I have to say that I miss him! It's hard to go from having someone around all the time for 18 years to barely talking to him or seeing him. But he is doing SO well (and so is Riley! Each job is well-suited for the individual) and I am incredibly proud of him! He started off the job working a 16 hour day - and almost 50 hours in the week! Things will settle down - he is classified as part time so he can't work more than 28 hours. But for now they have him working a ton! And he's jumping at the opportunity!

As for Reece, she's also doing well - missing her siblings but enjoying getting to pretty much do what she wants with me! Today, for instance, we went to the pool together and she made a new friend, and then we got slushies on the way to pick Riley up from work.

Change is so hard, but I think the kids are handling it better than I am! LOL

Monday, June 09, 2014

I have been a baseball fan for all of my adult life! Actually now that I think about it, I've been a baseball fan since I was a little kid! I'm not sure which other 8-10 year old girl would have a crush on Darrell Porter (catcher for the Cardinals back in the day). But in my adult life, I lived in the South so I was a Braves fan. But I also worked for the Minor League Mets affiliate in college. I simply love baseball!

Recently, I've taken to reading biographies of ball players - R.A. Dickey and Curt Schilling are two of the most compelling ones. So when I had the chance to get a copy of the biography of newly retired Yankees closer, Mariano Rivera, to read and review for my blog, I jumped on it. Not only because I think Rivera is a phenomenal ball player, but also because it would be the first time I got something specifically to review!

I'm going to start off with the disclaimer that I have read so often on other blogs: I did receive a copy of this book free of charge to review, but the thoughts you are going to read here are completely my own.

And now I'll add another disclaimer - I have not yet finished reading the book. My big plan was to read it last week while the kids were at VBS and then I ended up helping out at VBS! :) But my review is due today and I don't want to miss my first ever deadline.

The story starts off with a description of Mariano's life in his home country. I had no idea how poor his family was. Part of the nature of the story that makes it so compelling is also part of the reason why it's taking me so long to read - it's written in first person, but it's not past tense. It feels awkward to me to read, and if the story weren't so good I probably would have put it down never to return to it. But I want to know Rivera's story, so I will continue on. After all, I know the ending of the story, as does most everyone who loves baseball, even if you aren't a Yankees fan. ;) But I want to know what made the man who he is today. How did he transition from poverty to millionaire baseball player in America? And how exactly did he come to be a believer and to put his faith and trust in Jesus in a situation that frankly would have had most people putting their faith and trust in their pitching arm.

I noticed that the co-author is Wayne Coffey. The name sounded familiar to me, so I did a little research (OK, I googled LOL) and discovered that he is the co-author of R.A. Dickey's biography that I loved so much. I'm wondering now if that book was written in this 'past/present' style? I may have to check into that!

I will post a follow-up to this post once I'm done with the book, which shouldn't take more than a couple of days!